MIAMI — Every now and then, when a locker room of NBA players witnesses greatness, they ditch the cliches, save the politically correct jargon for another day and speak the uncensored truth.

After watching LeBron James make NBA history Tuesday night, the Trail Blazers were presented with such an opportunity and the superlatives poured out.

It didn’t matter that they suffered a 117-104 defeat to the Miami Heat. Or that they dropped their fourth consecutive game. Or that they squandered a golden opportunity to sneak out of American Airlines Arena with a victory.

It was one of those nights when a great player did great things. And sometimes you simply have to acknowledge dominance.

“You have to guard him close, you have to play him tough and we did that,” Nicolas Batum said of James. “But, I mean, we’re just human. He’s not.”

James continued one of the most impressive individual runs in NBA history Tuesday night, recording 30 points, nine assists, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks, while making 11 of 15 field goals. He became the first player in NBA history to score at least 30 points and shoot at least 60 percent from the field in six consecutive games, and he did so in jaw-dropping style.

With repeated chants of “MVP” echoing around the arena, James toyed with the Blazers for 39 minutes of entertaining, dominant play. When he wanted to be a playmaker, he facilitated teammates, piling up six assists in less than six minutes to start the game. When he wanted to score, he did so with precision and power, slicing through the Blazers’ defense for a monster dunk here or a smooth pull-up jumper there. He finished alley-oops in transition, he blocked shots, he snatched steals. He did it all.

And afterward, the awe-struck Blazers couldn’t help but marvel in the visiting locker room at American Airlines Arena. Out of nowhere, Elliot Williams walked up to a reporter unsolicited, opened his eyes wide and shook his head in amazement.

“I’ve never seen anything like him,” said Williams of James, who is shooting 72 percent (66-of-92) in his last six games. “That was amazing.”

Meanwhile, in Sasha Pavlovic’s corner stall, Batum, and Will Barton were huddled around him, bantering back-and-forth about the remarkable performance they had just watched. At one point Pavlovic laughed and announced: “You’ve got to listen to this, he says LeBron was created in a lab. He’s crazy.”

“He” was Barton and he went on to ramble for several minutes.

It’s not as if the Blazers were pushovers Tuesday and the praise they heaped on James was an illustration of weakness. The Blazers (25-27) played hard, they played well and they held their own against the reigning NBA Champions, offering a 180-degree turnaround from their hideous showing in Orlando on Sunday. The Blazers led by as many as 14 points in the game and by five in the fourth quarter.

For roughly 44 minutes, they matched Miami (35-14) punch for punch.

After Wesley Matthews swished a three-pointer with 4:38 remaining, the Blazers led 102-101 and it looked like an entertaining, back-and-forth slugfest would go down to the wire. But the Heat scored the next 14 points to spoil any hope of a nip-and-tuck finish and all that was left to do afterward was show respect to a team — and a player — that played at a remarkably high level.

“The things that he does, it’s just ...” JJ Hickson said, before pausing for eight seconds to find the right words. “You just can’t explain it.”

James certainly had help Tuesday night as the Heat’s vaunted Big Three had a field day against the Blazers. Chris Bosh finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds and Dwyane Wade added 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. It was enough for the Heat to overcome a bounce-back night from Damian Lillard (33 points) and another All-Star effort from LaMarcus Aldridge (29 points).

In the end, the Heat’s championship mettle — and an MVP performance from James — were too much for the young and rebuilding Blazers. James established a new Miami record for consecutive 30-point games and became the first non-center in franchise history to shoot at least 60 percent six games in a row. It was the 30th time in his career that James has burned the Blazers with 30 or more points.

“It was a LeBron game,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said.

Notes: The Blazers’ defense continued to be an Achilles heel, allowing the Heat to shoot 58 percent and score 117 points. ... After the Blazers built a 14-point lead in the first half, the Heat reeled off a 36-10 run over the second and third quarters. ... Pavlovic (left foot) and Ronnie Price (right ankle) played their first games in roughly two weeks. ... Jared Jeffries finished with seven points, three rebounds and one assist in 20 minutes off the bench. ... Rookie center Meyers Leonard did not play. ... The Blazers lost despite shooting 53 percent.